Incredulous personal opinion - Kosta Tszyu isn't as great as Lupe Pintor

Better hook: Pintor.
Better right: Tszyu
Better off back foot: Tszyu
Better infighter: Pintor

 

Better off back foot: Tszyu? Not so sure.
Tszyu was definitely the better puncher and a terrific pressure fighter. Pintor was the more orthodox and arguably more technically sound.

 

Both fighters were a true credit to boxing and many retired fighters could
learn some humility from Tszyu and Pintor. Tszyu after Hatton lost in final
fight made no excuses and held no bitterness and his humbleness was
refreshing in a tough sport. Pintor was invited to the unveiling of a bronze
statue of Welsh fighter Johnny Owen ( Rip Champ ) by Johnny parents.
They held no ill will towards Lupe. Lupe a credit to all ex boxers.

 

Tszyu fought off the back foot against Tackie, and I don't recall Pintor doing so, though Pintor arguably had better defense on the way in. Tszyu hit a bit harder, but Pintor was better in the later rounds.

 

The mention of Johnny Owen also prompted me to add that Lupe fought on having been involved in a ring death. We just lost Scott Westgarth on Sunday so there has been a lot of chat about this on these shores.

So many fighters - my man Ezzard, Gabe Ruelas, Emile Griffith and even Aussie Joe Bugner - lost a lot of their killer instinct after being involved in a ring death so you could make the case that post 1980 Pintor was not operating at 100% capacity. Not 100% and went close with Gomez is no mean feat.

 

As would Chandler if he won. It's a crying shame for both of them. Both could have enhanced their reputations in a win or a loss.

 

Kosta Tszyu had that one-punch, fight turning power, that fans always anticipated would show itself somewhere in the fight.

 

Pintor was Chucho Castillo grade tough IMO.

 

Pintor proved his toughness, tenacity and heart for the ages vs Bazooka Gomez.

 

I'm leaning slightly...ever so slightly that is, to Lupe Pintor....but not wanting to take anything away from Kostya Tszyu in any way.....he'll always have a special place in my heart for bringing out Zab Judah's talent for dancing the chicken dance.

 

Hey guys, as usuala very interesting and thought provoking thread ya posted up Russell.

I have a love for the old school and Pintor exemplifies it. The guy had absolutely no promotional help and came up the old way aka the hard way. No gimmes, no easy opponents which ensured he actually learned how to fight pro style over 15 rounds.

As an Aussie I watched Kostya's career and I was always struck by how gifted he was, both in speed and in power and despite what a few have said Tszyu was actually a good fighter off the back foot. I recommend his fight with Vernon Forrest at the world am's as a great example of showcasing Tsyu's boxing skill and foot and hand speed.

The way I look at it is that Tszyu was more talented physically as far as natural ability but Pintor was definitely tougher and deffo had more technical know how.

Kostyas opponents tended to be " old, past it or never had it " in typical Bill Mordey style ( Kostya's first promoter ).

As far as who was greater from an historical perspective, I would back Pintor as 118 is a great old school division but funnily enough in a p 4 p head to head battle I would back Tszyu.

Pintor lacks the size and power at bantam compared to a guy like Vince Phillips who was a beast size wise at 140 and who had the chin and right hand to give Tzsyu fits.

Lupe was a strong bantam but he wasnt as big as Zarate who was like a better ( much bewtter ) version of Phillips in the fact that he was a giant at the weight and a tremendous puncher.

Cheers All.

 

Look no further than the second Mitchell fight to see the infighter Kostya was. And he demonstrated a damaging short left hook as noted by the hematoma next to Mitchell's right eye.

As I stated before, Kostya developed his game as he aged.

 

Russell has caused me to rethink my opinion of Pintor...a lot of things to be taken into consideration here.